Use-Limiter devices are used to prevent medical devices from being used more than the pre-determined number of uses designated by the manufacturer. For example, it may be desirable that a typical medical device is only operated three to five times. Once the device has reached the manufacturer's specific number of uses, then the device is permanently disabled and cannot be reused, reconditioned or refurbished in any way. After that, the device should be disposed of for reasons of patient safety.
Typically, such limiter devices comprise electrical circuits with associated software. These systems permit a medical device to be plugged in into a power supply such that it will operate only several times. After that, the medical device will not operate when plugged back into the power supply.
Problems with such systems include the fact that they typically include electrical controllers. Installing such electrical controllers may necessitate retrofitting both the controller, and the medical device itself. A further problem common to such systems is that they rely on integrated circuits, and that the memories of such integrated circuits may be damaged by typical sterilization procedures, such as X rays.